This Is It
by stargatefan87
Summary: Daniel takes Vala to a banquet where he finally lets his guard down.


Title: This Is It

Rating: M

Summary: Daniel takes Vala to a banquet where he finally let's his guard down.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**This Is It**

**A/N: Warning! Adult situations ahead!**

As I opened the letter from one of my old, and I mean old (the man had to be like eighty by now), archeology colleagues from before I first went through the Stargate, I was stunned to find myself invited to the annual archeology banquet in Los Angeles. The last one I had gone to was well over a decade ago, and I'll never forget the laughter of almost all of the other archeologists over my theories (and lack of a date as well). Well no, there was no way I was going to go and have myself humiliated yet again, even if I was right all along. It wasn't as if I could just show them or tell them that I was correct, what good would it do to go?

I skimmed over the rest of the letter, but one phrase caught my attention. _Daniel, I know that you had difficulty at the last banquet, but I would like for you to join me at this one. As I am getting older, I do not know how many more of these I will be able to attend and I would love to see my old colleague and friend once again. _Dammit! I really did want to see old Harold again. He was one of the only archeologists who didn't laugh at me at the last banquet.

I had to go, just to see Harold again. However, this time, even if I can't validate my theories, I can at least find a date to accompany me.

At that moment, Vala decided to grace me with her presence. My eyes traveled from her long, glossy black hair, to her pale neck, down to her...

"Daniel?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked back at her eyes, which were regarding me with a look that clearly said 'I know what you were doing.'

"Hmm?"

"What's that in your hand?" She motioned towards my invitation letter.

"This? Oh, I was invited to the annual Archeology Banquet in Los Angeles."

She gave me a quizzical look. "A what? Where?"

I sighed before answering her. "It's an event where archeologists all get together to discuss theories and eat food and socialize with each other. Los Angeles is a large city in California, which is a state that is west of here."

Vala sat down on my desk, swinging her legs back and forth in front of me. "Oh, so are you going?"

_Only if I can find a date... _"Well, I'd like to go just to see my old friend, but I need a date."

"Yes! Yes, Daniel I will be your date!" She hopped off of the desk and nearly threw herself in my arms.

_That wasn't exactly an invitation. Oh, who am I kidding? I want her to go with me. My feelings for her are complicated, but I can't think of anyone else that I'd rather spend my time with than her. _"I wasn't inviting you just now, but uh...I guess you could come with me."

One month later...

I'm not sure exactly what I had been thinking when I invited Vala to be my date for the banquet, or she invited herself...anyway, that's neither here nor there. Here I am, on a plane to Los Angeles, with Vala sleeping peacefully on my shoulder.

I resisted the urge to tuck her stray hair behind her ear, but just barely. She just looked so sweet and almost innocent while she was sleeping. It's a side of her that I rarely saw and I liked it. I enjoyed seeing the softer side of Vala Mal Doran, without the flirting or bickering that usually accompanied her.

There has been something very odd about our relationship lately. Ever since our fateful trip on the Odyssey and then our adventures with the Ark of Truth, we have gotten much closer. We still argued and bickered, and she still liked to tease me. However, I was becoming less and less annoyed by her antics, to the point where I was finding them almost...endearing. Clearly I have been hit on the head with one too many blunt objects or something to be thinking this, but I am.

Sadly, our plane was landing and I needed to wake up the serene beauty still sleeping on my shoulder.

I shook her lightly to rouse her. "Vala? Vala? We're here."

She slowly lifted her head off of me. "Hmm?"

I couldn't help but to smile at her. "We are just about to land, get ready."

"'Kay," she mumbled as she sat up fully and smoothed down her hair.

I had gotten us two rooms at the hotel where the banquet was taking place at. Unfortunately, the plane had been delayed a little bit so we only had about an hour to get ready before the banquet was going to start.

Vala began to rush into her room when I stopped her.

"You have an hour to get ready," I told her before she could disappear into her room.

"What? An hour? Do you really think that I can get ready in only an hour?" She stood there staring at me with her hands on her hips.

I tried not to laugh at her childlike antics. "How long does it really take to shower and throw on a dress?"

Vala scoffed at me. "Daniel, honestly! It takes time for a girl to look beautiful!"

_You already look beautiful to me_. That was my immediate thought. Even in her plain T-shirt and ratty jeans, she was beautiful. "I'm sure you will look fine."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because the next thing I knew was her huff of annoyance as she slammed the door in my face.

Chuckling lightly, I called out to her. "I'll be here to get you at 5:30, be ready!" It was going to be one hell of a night!

I went to my own room and quickly hopped in the shower. As I let the spray cascade over my body, I couldn't help but to think that Vala was right in the next room showering as well. My mind drew up the memories of her flawless skin from when I had undressed her on the Prometheus, and as much as I tried to shut them out, I could not. I felt warmth of arousal beginning to race throughout my body and I quickly turned the shower nozzle to cold.

When I knocked on the door to Vala's room, I was surprised when she came out dressed and ready to go. She looked beyond beautiful, beyond perfection. She was wearing a royal blue dress with silver accents, paired with silver high heels. Her raven hair was curled in ringlets that bounced whenever she moved. However, what caught my attention most was her gorgeous smile as she took in my appearance.

I had dressed in a dark blue dress shirt with a black sports jacket and slacks. I took the time to put a little bit of gel in my hair and even used some of my cologne. Vala certainly seemed as if she was enjoying how I looked.

"You look very handsome my Daniel," she said as she gave me another lingering gaze.

I secretly loved how she still insisted that I was _her _Daniel. I have to admit that it gave me a certain thrill to hear her call me that.

"You look amazing Vala." There was no denying that fact, she looked gorgeous.

She smiled at me again and offered her arm so that I could accompany her into the banquet hall downstairs.

I was nervous. The last time I had seen any of these people was well over a decade ago and they had laughed at my theories. I hoped I didn't have to socialize with any of them, other than to show off the beautiful woman on my arm of course.

However, luck did not seem to be on my side. The very first person who came up to me was Dr. William Conrad. He had been at the last banquet I had been to as well, and needless to say, was not very supportive of my ideas.

I was pleased to notice that the man had not aged that well. He had to be close to my age, but his hair was thinning and graying, and his physique was nowhere near as fit as mine.

"Dr. Daniel Jackson, I'm surprised to see you here. I have noticed that you haven't published anything lately. And who is this lovely lady you have with you?"

"I just wanted to come and see Dr. Harold Johnston, and this is my...uh...research assistant, Vala Mal Doran," I said as I motioned towards Vala.

She was eyeing Conrad and his date with a death glare, but she politely thrust her hand forward to shake his. "Dr. Conrad, how nice to meet you, and who is your date?"

My gaze flickered over to the young blonde on Conrad's arm, I did not remember seeing her before.

"My name is Eliza Lewis, I'm William's fiancee." She stated this like it was some honor or something.

After some rather awkward small talk, I took Vala over to our assigned table, where Harold was waiting.

"Harold! Great to see you!" I hurried to take my seat by him.

He smiled back at me. "Daniel Jackson! You sure look different than the last time I saw you! Oh! This must be your date!" The man's eyes quickly went over to inspect Vala.

Vala beamed at the old man. "I'm Vala, Daniel's research assistant."

"Pleasure to met you."

Vala and I chatted amiably with Harold during the dinner and presentations. I could have blown them all away with the things I had seen and done over the past decade. The beautiful woman that was sitting next to me was proof enough of that. However, I was stuck hearing about the advancements made in theories about early Mesopotamia.

The party was still in full swing when Vala excused herself to go to the restroom. As silly as it was, I couldn't help but to want to escort her there because of what happened with the Trust. However, I somehow refrained from doing so and instead mentioned that I wanted to get some air on the second story balcony.

Harold came with me and we finally got the chance to formally catch up.

"So, how have you been? I was really surprised to hear from you."

Harold smiled at me. "I recently retired from going on actual digs, I'm a little bit too old to be crouching down in the mud for long periods of time. I still write articles on archeology and occasionally go to speak at colleges as well. You look like you have been doing well. You're no longer that scrawny awkward thing that I remember from last time!"

I chuckled lightly as I gazed out at the Los Angeles skyline. "Thanks."

"So tell me about Vala."

_She's amazing, annoying, and beautiful. She makes me go crazy in both bad and good ways. _"Wh..what about her?"

It was Harold's turn to chuckle now. "Well, you can start by explaining what exactly is going on between you two."

I wasn't sure what he meant, well I had a good idea, but I didn't want to have to explain if that wasn't what he had meant. "We're friends...co-workers."

The older man went to face me directly. "Her demeanor begs to differ with you."

_What? _"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Come on Daniel, you have to see how she looks at you."

_Yeah, like she wants to eat me up...which isn't exactly a bad thing... _"She's kind of a tease, she doesn't mean anything by it."

"Listen to me son, I've been around for quite some time now, and I know a woman in love when I see one. Oh, and speak of the devil, here she comes now." He gestured over to the door and I saw Vala coming towards us.

Harold clapped me lightly on the shoulder before she was in range to hear us. "Take my advice, if you love this woman, go for it. Life is too short."

A sudden feeling of deja vu settled over me as Vala waved to Harold as he departed. _Life is too short...life is too short. _ That phrase seemed to have some meaning to it, some deeper meaning that I could not make out at the moment.

Vala joined me by the balcony railing and sighed. The curls in her hair had loosened a bit over the course of the night and were blowing gently in the breeze. She looked absolutely amazing and I felt the overwhelming urge to just take her face into my hands and kiss her underneath the stars.

I chickened out though, like I always did. "Beautiful night, isn't it?"

She turned to me and gave me a half smile. "It is," she replied, but her voice sounded almost sad.

"What's wrong?"

She sighed again, heavily this time. "I ran into that Eliza woman in the ladies' room, and well...she wasn't exactly pleasant with me."

Anger washed over me. That woman had no right to say or do anything to make my Vala upset. _Wait, did I just think of her as my Vala? Yes, I totally did._ "What happened?"

Vala scrunched up her face in a look of utter disgust. "She asked me what street corner you found me on, and I when I told her I wasn't homeless, she...she had the nerve to insinuate that I was a prostitute!"

I was outraged. "What?"

"She went on to tell me that she would pay me double whatever you were paying me to 'get lost' so that she could try and seduce you!"

I was confused now. _Wasn't she engaged to William? _ "But she's engaged..."

Vala threw her hands up in the air. "I know! She didn't care!"

I was kind of afraid to ask what Vala did next, knowing her she may have hauled off and punched the woman in her face. "Well, what happened?"

"I really wanted to punch her, but there were some other ladies in the room and I didn't want any witnesses, so I told her that if she ever touched you, that I would make her sorry that she was ever born."

I laughed out loud. I couldn't help it, she was just so cute when she was angry. "Come here," I said and I opened my arms up to her for a hug.

She melted into my embrace and I held her close, enjoying the feeling of her warm body flush against mine.

"Can we leave?"

I nodded. "Yeah, let's go, it's getting late anyway."

After we said our goodbyes to Harold, Vala and I took the elevator back to the eleventh floor where are rooms were.

I wanted to kiss her goodnight, wanted it more than anything, but I went for her cheek instead.

She smiled at me before heading into her room. "Goodnight Daniel."

"Night," I replied and then went off into my own room.

I got ready for bed, stripping down to just my boxer briefs and snuggled under the covers. I was happy that I had gotten to see Harold again, but I could have done without seeing William or having his bitch of a fiancee upset Vala.

I tossed and turned for a good half hour; all of my thoughts revolving around Vala. I mentally kicked myself for not kissing her, not telling her how I felt for her, not inviting her back into my room.

_Well, better late than never, right? _

Before I could lose my nerve, I got up, grabbed my cell phone from the nightstand and dialed Vala's number.

"Daniel?"

"Yeah, it's me. I can't sleep, do you want to come over here and keep me company? Er...I mean we can, uh...talk or play cards or something."

Vala giggled. "I'd love to! However, you'll have to give me a minute to get dressed, I just have my nightgown on."

I'm not sure why I said what I said next, but it just came blaring out. "Uh, no need, just come as you are."

The call disconnected and a moment later I heard a knock on my door. I don't know where exactly my rational mind had gone to, but I didn't bother to put on any clothes either when I answered the door.

As soon as I opened the door, she rushed in and I shut it behind me. She was wearing a short hot pink nightgown that only went down to right below her butt. Her cleavage was almost popping out of the top. I was doomed...so very doomed.

"Nice pajamas," she said, nodding towards my black boxer briefs.

I felt my face flush a bit. "Uh, thanks...you too. So, cards?"

Vala tapped her chin with her index finger in mock thought as she sat down on the bed. "Strip poker?"

I chuckled nervously. "Umm, figuring that we both don't have very much on, I don't think it would be a very exciting game."

"Come sit," she demanded, patting the empty space beside her.

_Oh gods, this is it. This is IT. You have to kiss her now, what was it that Harold told you? Oh yeah, life is too short. Do it, just go over there and kiss her. You want this, she wants this. It is time._

I sat next to her on my hotel bed. My heart was pounding inside my chest, beating so loudly that it was almost drowning out all of my thoughts.

"Thanks for taking me with you, Daniel."

"Your welcome, I..."

She frowned at me. "You what?"

I didn't answer her, at least not in words. Instead, I brushed my thumb over her cheek and down to her lips and slowly leaned forward and kissed her. She responded almost immediately, caressing my lips with her own.

The feeling was amazing, but I wanted more. I slowly swept my tongue over her lips and she parted them for me. That's about the time that I lost all control. I kissed her with more and more passion, tongues wrestling and teeth clicking.

Vala moaned into my mouth and I took that as an invitation to re-position us on the bed so that she was lying underneath me.

I trailed my lips from her neck down to where her skin met the fabric of her nightgown. She moaned my name as I pushed the fabric aside so I could continue my kisses.

The sound of my name from her lips made me suddenly very aware of my erection pressing painfully against my underwear.

Desperate to feel naked skin against naked skin, I pulled off her nightgown, followed quickly by her panties.

My eyes traveled over the soft curves of her milky white skin and I smiled. "Absolutely beautiful."

She smiled back at me and pushed my underwear off of my body.

I gently pressed my hand between her legs, but she swatted me away. "I'm more than ready Daniel," she said in a breathy whisper that made me shudder.

My whole body felt alight with fire as I entered her. She was so warm, so wet, so amazing. "Mmm...Vala, I don't know how long I can make this last."

"It's okay, I just want to be with you." She tightened her legs around my waist and we began.

Some time later, I collapsed on top of her, exhausted and delightfully satisfied.

_Wow, just wow. If that wasn't the most amazing sex...er, lovemaking that I have ever had, I don't know what is._

Vala cuddled up to me and I placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Can we do that again?"

I laughed. "We can do that as many times as you want, but not right this second. I need time to recharge."

She smiled back at me. "Can we be together now?"

I tightened our embrace. "We can be together always."

**The End! Reviews are loved and appreciated!**


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